William “Billy” Collins is an American poet.He was born March 22 1941 in New York City to William and Katherine Collins. As a poet he uses easy language and comedic tone so to even target an audience that may not read or understand it otherwise.

Billy attended Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains and got his degree from the College of the Holy Cross in 1963. He received his M.A. and Ph.D in English from the University of California, Riverside. Billy was a student of Victorian Scholar and poet Robert Peters at Riverside. Billy became a distinguished professor of English at Lehman College in the Bronx, where he joined the faculty in 1968.He has now taught there for over thirty years.


Why is he famous?

Billy became famous in 1997, when he recorded The Best Cigarette, a collection of 34 of his poems that went on to become a bestseller. He also gained recognition for being the Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. In his home state, Billy has been recognized as a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library (1992). He was selected as the New York State Poet for 2004.

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Image source: uaa.alaska.edu}

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Tags: poet, new york city, 1941	[edit tags]

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Category: Poets  - ( Poets Archive)

Date Added: 10 March '09

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